police

Three months after a veteran police officer in Springfield Massachusetts was killed in the line of duty, the death of officer Kevin Ambrose still reverberates. Police across the country are reviewing procedures for dealing with domestic disputes involving fellow law officers. Efforts continue in Massachusetts to boost survivor benefits for the families of public safety professionals killed on the job. WAMC”s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.

The results of a no confidence vote against Connecticut state police leaders by state troopers are set to be announced. WAMC’s Tristan O’Neill reports…

Officials with the National Troopers Coalition are scheduled to count the ballots Tuesday morning and announce the results around mid-day. Ballots were mailed to more than 1,000 state police union members earlier this month and were due back Monday afternoon.

Federal investigators say they are launching a public awareness campaign that could include billboards and television ads to help solve the 1990 art heist from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

The campaign could go international and is expected to be similar to the operation that led to the capture of James "Whitey" Bulger.

The Boston Globe reports the campaign will reintroduce the public to the 13 stolen masterpieces, including works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas, and Manet, and try to solicit information concerning their whereabouts.

Thousands came out Friday to pay their last respects to a veteran Springfield Massachusetts police officer who was shot dead earlier this week after responding to a domestic dispute.. WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.

Springfield Police Officer Kevin Ambrose was remembered for his fun loving spirit, his sense of humor, athletic prowess and his dedication to family, friends and the citizens of Springfield, whom he served for 36 years.

Funerals for Springfield Officer Kevin Ambrose and Rutland Officer Sean Cooney are being held today.

Ambrose was shot and killed while investigating a domestic dispute on Monday. His funeral is at St. Catherine of Siena church in Springfield. Ambrose's pastor from St. Cecilia's Parish in Wilbraham will conduct the service with Springfield Bishop Timothy McDonnell.

National statistics point to an increase in deadly violence against law enforcement officers. A 36 year veteran policeman in Springfield Massachusetts was the latest to lose his life in the line of duty when he was shot dead earlier this week while trying to resolve a domestic dispute. WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.

State police say a trooper who stopped for a disabled car in Westchester County discovered the driver was wanted by the Secret Service for an alleged $1 million wire fraud. WAMC’s Tristan O’Neill reports…

The arrest occurred Sunday evening on the Sprain Brook Parkway in Yonkers.

Darrin Foster, of the Bronx, is accused of stealing the money from his former employer, an investment firm in Westport, Conn.

Police also discovered that Foster allegedly had a suspended license for failure to pay child support.

Vermont State Police say human remains, including part of a skull, have been found on private property that was being excavated in Northfield. More from WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley......

Police say the skull piece and other skeletal remains found at the construction site will be sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation laboratory for further investigation.

The office of the Vermont chief medical examiner and a University of Vermont anthropologist determined that the bones are human.

The state police union says management is carrying out another "ticket blitz," this time in the Waterbury and Danbury areas.

The union says the enforcement effort aimed at speeding and other violations with run through 11:59 today on Interstate 84 from the New York line to exit 28 and along Route 8 from exits 29 to 36. Extra troopers will also be patrolling other roads in western Connecticut.

The last "ticket blitz" was held in northeastern Connecticut on April 5.

A series of proposals aimed at cracking down on crime are pending before the city council in western Massachusetts' largest city. Several of the public safety initiatives proposed in Springfield are intended to reduce illegal guns, and are being considered in the aftermath of recent horrific gun violence. WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.

State Police divers continue to search the Connecticut River for evidence in the murder of Melissa Jenkins, a popular Vermont prep school teacher whose body was found in the river in Barnet. WAMC's North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley reports…

A Waterford couple has been charged with killing Jenkins and dumping her body in the river on March 25 after luring her from St. Johnsbury home with a ruse about a broken down car.

Mentally ill Vermonters who are involuntarily put in state care are still mostly being moved from place to place in shackles, seven years after the state decreed that they should be transported with "the least restrictive means necessary." WAMC's Tristan O'Neill reports...

State officials and county sheriffs tell The Associated Press s very small percentage of patients are combative or are deemed to present a threat of violence.

A former Springfield Massachusetts police officer will serve time behind bars for pummeling a man on the face with a flashlight after a traffic stop. The brutal assault was recorded by a passerby and the video posted to the internet, and was key evidence at the trial. WAMC”s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill was at Wednesday’s sentencing hearing in Chicopee District Court.

A former Springfield Massachusetts police officer has been ordered by a judge to serve 18 months in jail for pummeling a man on the face with a flashlight after a traffic stop. WAMC's Paul Tuthill reports…

Judge Maureen Walsh, said Jeffrey Asher had failed to uphold his oath to protect and serve all when in November, 2009, he assaulted Melvin Jones III, who sustained numerous broken bones and was left partially blind in one eye.

Vermont State Police say an autopsy has confirmed that a body found off a back road is that of a prep school teacher who disappeared while her son was left unharmed in her idling car. WAMC's Tristan O'Neill reports...

Police say the death 33-year-old Melissa Jenkins has been ruled a homicide. Police have not released the cause of death.

Jenkins was reported missing Sunday night. Police found her car not far from her St. Johnsbury home. There was evidence of a struggle.

The Oneida County Sheriff's Office is investigating after someone turned in a lump of melted green plastic that appears to have been a homemade bomb rigged with matches, gasoline and bullets. WAMC's Tristan O'Neill reports...

Deputies say a Barneveld resident found the object on a trail in the town of Trenton on March 18 and turned it in to the sheriff's office on Sunday.